Player as Banker Dispute in Pai Gow Poker

I was just in South Florida and played two days at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood. On the second day we had two contoversies in about 45 minutes. lThe first one was when the player is the banker does he have to set his hand the house way? I have always thought and playing Pai Gow Poker at various places, Chester, Lake Tahoe, Atlantic City and the Harrah's properties in Vegas, the player could set his hand anyway he wanted to. Our dealer who said he dealt at the Venetian and he mentioned another casino downtown but I forgot the name, claimed the places he worked in Vegas, the player as banker HAD to set his hand according to that house way. Eventually the pit boss after consulting with upper management decided the player could set his hand however he pleased. Who is correct? I think the player should be able to set his hand as he wishes if he is the banker. Also, what if the player as banker fouls his hand? If the dealer does it, the boss comes over and corrects him and rearranges his cards. Would the same courtesy be given a player who fouls his hand while he is the banker?

In Nevada, and probably everywhere, the player as banker may set his hand however he wishes. I've banked lots of times and set my cards/tiles however I like.

I would imagine that if the player/banker fouled his hand then he would lose against everybody, except foul vs. foul might push (what are the odds of that?)

Thats what I thought and so did the immediated superviser and the rest of table, but the dealer was adamant that when he dealt at the Venetian the player had to set it the house way. Do you know if that is the case. I can not believe it is but we had the game held up for half an hour debating this rule.

In my corner of the world, the banker may set how he chooses but may not set a foul hand. If he sets a foul hand, his hand will be arranged by the dealer the House Way and played out.

Quite often, a player banking against his wife may set his hand of
JJ55732 as:
J5/J7532 - a legal hand setting, to force a loss to another player he knows. As far as the house is concerned, a legal hand setting is simply that - that the five card side is stronger than the two-card side.
Personally, IMHO, banking rounds on an otherwise house-banked table game is asking for problems.

Dan, so where you work and as far as you know, the player can set his hand anyway he wants to?

Yes, exactly, - so as long as the hand is not fouled, the five-card side is stronger than the 2-card side. That's it, you're okay, play as you see fit.
Fiesta Henderson is actually a very serious Pai Gow Playing house.

If player foul his hand, then it gets defaulted to house way.
At some cheap places, house will first wins his share-wager and then rearrange it to house way in order to compete with other players..

If a new player accidently fouls his hand as a one-off, - he always gets a re-do, no problem.
Cheap houses lose players, rightly so.